lithium niobate / 08 Industry / 8.1
8.1 Rock to chip
L1 The chain
Lithium niobate is about 63% niobium by weight. Almost all of that niobium is mined in Brazil as pyrochlore ore, mostly for steel F. A 6-inch wafer holds about 26 g of niobium; even 2 million such wafers a year would use about 0.05% of world niobium output E. Supply limits, if any, sit downstream in oxide refining, crystal growth, and thin-film bonding E.
Select a step to open its card: facts with grade and source, companies from the table of section 8.2.
Nb orepyrochlore, Brazil
150 mm × 0.5 mm wafer, density 4,642.8 kg/m3; Nb is 62.8 wt% of LiNbO3. Drawn areas proportional to mass. E
- World mine production 112,000 t Nb content in 2024 and 2025 (estimated)F
- Brazil 104,000 t, about 93% of world production; Canada 6,900 t (2024e), 6,000 t (2025e)F
- Reserves: Brazil 14,000,000 t; Canada 640,000 t; world > 21,000,000 tF
- US end use: steels about 77%, superalloys about 23%; LN and LT electronics not listed separately (N/A)F
Nb orepyrochlore, Brazil
150 mm × 0.5 mm wafer, density 4,642.8 kg/m3; Nb is 62.8 wt% of LiNbO3. Drawn areas proportional to mass. E
- World mine production 112,000 t Nb content in 2024 and 2025 (estimated)F
- Brazil 104,000 t, about 93% of world production; Canada 6,900 t (2024e), 6,000 t (2025e)F
- Reserves: Brazil 14,000,000 t; Canada 640,000 t; world > 21,000,000 tF
- US end use: steels about 77%, superalloys about 23%; LN and LT electronics not listed separately (N/A)F
L2 Node facts
| Step | Fact | Grade |
|---|---|---|
| Nb ore | World mine production 112,000 t Nb content in 2024 and 2025 (estimated) | F |
| Brazil 104,000 t, about 93% of world production; Canada 6,900 t (2024e), 6,000 t (2025e) | F | |
| Reserves: Brazil 14,000,000 t; Canada 640,000 t; world > 21,000,000 t | F | |
| US end use: steels about 77%, superalloys about 23%; LN and LT electronics not listed separately (N/A) | F | |
| Brazil ferroniobium exports 92,000 t in 2024; destinations China 49%, Netherlands 17%, Singapore 9% | F | |
| Li ore, brine | World production 290,000 t Li content in 2025 (excluding US), up from 222,000 t in 2024 | F |
| Batteries take 88% of global lithium end use; LN and LT are not broken out (N/A) | F | |
| Nb₂O₅ + Li₂CO₃ | Nb₂O₅ is 69.904 wt% Nb | F |
| US niobium oxide imports 2021-2024: Brazil 89%, Estonia 4%, Thailand 4% | F | |
| Boule | Sumitomo Metal Mining grows LT and LN single crystals by the Czochralski method | F |
| TDG Holding (SSE 600330) states 8-inch LN is in mass production (IR record 2026-06-03) | F | |
| Nanzhi Xincai (Suzhou): founded 2021-12 on a Nanjing University team; LN/LT crystal materials; Pre-A round over CNY 100 M | T/V | |
| Bulk wafer | Sumitomo Metal Mining: 4" and 6" wafers; LN 128-degree rotated Y (350 um at 4", 500 um at 6"); LT 36-50-degree rotated Y; main use SAW filters in smartphones | F |
| Shin-Etsu Chemical: LT crystals and wafers, 4" and 6", for SAW devices; LN not listed on its product page | F | |
| TDG Holding plan: 1.68 M piezoelectric + 0.42 M bonded wafers per year by 2029-12 | V | |
| Branch, bulk devices: Covesion MgO:PPLN crystals for 460-6000 nm | F | |
| LNOI wafer | NanoLN (Jinan Jingzheng Electronics): 300-900 nm LNOI and LTOI films; thick films 5-50 um | F |
| Soitec Connect POI: LT6, LT8 (150 / 200 mm LT) and LN6 (150 mm LN) for RF filters | F | |
| Soitec to supply Europe-made 150 mm LNOI to CCRAFT; a processed 200 mm wafer shown (2025-06) | T | |
| Of 56 TFLN/TFLT papers in the atlas that state a wafer supplier, 50 name NanoLN | derived | |
| TFLN fab | Ligentec and X-FAB: TFLN-on-SiN and TFLN-on-SOI at 200 mm inside X-FAB (announced 2026-01-19; no production dates) | F |
| HyperLight with UMC and its subsidiary Wavetek: high-volume production on 6" and 8" (announced 2026-03-11/12); UMC release read through trade-press coverage | T/C | |
| CCRAFT (CSEM spin-off, 2025): pure-play TFLN foundry, MPW runs, 150 mm | T | |
| Modulator chip | HyperLight: 200 G/lane products available, 400 G/lane sampling (2026-06) | V |
| Murata: TFLN EO modulator ">100 GHz", "400 Gbps/ch PAM4", shown as a product in development at OFC 2026 | V | |
| AFR: 400 G/lane chip for 1.6T and 3.2T (ECOC 2025, 2025-10-01) | F/V | |
| Module | Advanced Fiber Resources (AFR): TFLN 96/130 GBd coherent driver modulators "reached volume shipment" (2025-04-07) | F/V |
| HyperLight: 1.6T-DR8 reference transceiver at 20 W (2026-03-17) | F/V | |
| Data center | TDG Holding expects LN modulators to be mainstream for 3.2T and above (statement, 2026-06-03) | F |
| Xanadu with HyperLight: TFLN waveguide loss < 2 dB/m and EO switch loss about 20 mdB in high-volume fab (2025-07-30) | T/V | |
| Exail: LN modulators since 2000; integrated optical circuits for fiber-optic gyroscopes; over 25,000 FOGs sold | F/V |
Companies named on the cards appear only if they are in the table of section 8.2 (grades F, V, T). Niobium and lithium end-use statistics do not separate LN and LT (N/A).
L3 How much niobium is in a wafer
- Formula LiNbO3, molar mass 147.84 g/mol (Li 6.94, Nb 92.906, O 15.999); Nb mass fraction 62.8%. The congruent, Li-deficient crystal ([Li]/[Nb] = 0.94, Li-site vacancy model) has 148.43 g/mol and 63.2% Nb: 25.9 g instead of 25.8 g per 6-inch wafer derived.
- Density 4,642.8 kg/m3 (congruent, SAW grade) P.
- 150 mm × 0.5 mm wafer, flats ignored: volume 8.84 cm3, mass 41.0 g LN, 25.8 g Nb. 200 mm × 0.5 mm: 72.9 g LN, 45.8 g Nb.
- Scenario: 2.1 M 6-inch-equivalent wafers per year (the size of TDG Holding's 2029 plan V, which mixes piezoelectric LT and LN wafers; treated here as all LN, an upper bound) need 54 t Nb, 0.05% of 2025 world mine output; with boule and kerf losses of 2 to 5× (assumed), 0.1 to 0.25%.
- Niobium mining does not constrain LN supply E. Constraints, if any, sit in high-purity Nb2O5 refining, crystal growth, and thin-film bonding capacity.
Nb in LN wafers: m = ρ π(D/2)2 t · wNbE
Diameter D
Preset
| mLN per wafer | 41.0 | g |
| mNb per wafer | 25.8 | g |
| Nb per year, N × mNb × loss | 54.1 | t/yr |
| share of world mine output (112,000 t, 2025e) | 0.0483 | % |
ρ 4,642.8 kg/m3 P · wNb = 92.906 / 147.843 from standard atomic weights · world output F · t default 0.5 mm, loss 1 to 5 (boule and kerf): template · preset 2.1 M 6-inch-equivalent wafers per year is TDG Holding's 2029 plan size, mixing LT and LN, treated as all LN (upper bound). Flats ignored.
Wafer diameter
- LN per wafer
- 41.0 g
- Nb per wafer
- 25.8 g
- Nb per year (upper bar)
- 54.1 t
- Share of world output (lower bar)
- 0.0483 %
Estimate E: density 4,642.8 kg/m3 P; Nb mass fraction 92.906 / 147.843 from standard atomic weights; world mine output 112,000 t Nb (2025e) F. Thickness default 0.5 mm and loss factor 1 to 5 (boule and kerf) are display parameters template. 2.1 M 6-inch-equivalent wafers per year is the size of TDG Holding's 2029 plan V, LT and LN mixed, treated as all LN (upper bound). Flats ignored. Log mass axis.